Question of the Day

Should President Trump pardon Michael Flynn?

Protestants fight police in Northern IrelandPORTADOWN, Northern Ireland Protestant hard-liners battled riot police yesterday after being barred from parading through the main Catholic section of Portadown, an annual confrontation that often triggers sectarian violence across the country.The rioters, cheered on by several hundred members and supporters of the Orange Order brotherhood, injured 24 officers, four seriously, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said.

U.S. offers troops, aid to Afghan villagersKAKARAK, Afghanistan The United States may station troops in the area where residents say a recent American air strike killed 48 civilians and wounded 117.Lt. Gen. Dan K. McNeill, the commander of U.S. forces, raised the idea yesterday during a trip to the village in Uruzgan province.In a visit designed to patch up relations, Gen. McNeill sat with tribal elders and the Uruzgan governor and discussed ways in which U.S. forces could provide humanitarian assistance.

Farrakhan urges Iraqis to speak to CongressBAGHDAD U.S. radical black leader the Rev. Louis Farrakhan yesterday proposed inviting representatives of the Iraqi government to address the U.S. Congress "to defend themselves and their position."As an initiative to ward off what he described as "threats of imminent war," Mr. Farrakhan also said he would appeal for a congressional hearing ahead of any U.S. military action against Iraq."This proposed war should be debated and those who desire war with Iraq should put before the American people the reasons that justify such action," he said at a press conference.

Arab ministers to debate Mideast peace proposalsCAIRO Arab foreign ministers will meet in Cairo on Friday to discuss a new U.S. vision for Middle East peace and an Arab peace plan that risks being set back by Israeli reoccupation and Palestinian upheaval.Arab League spokesman Hesham Youssef said yesterday that foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, Yemen and Bahrain, as well as Palestinian officials, would exchange views on the two plans.

Pakistani ruler to limit prime ministers' termsISLAMABAD, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has issued a decree that effectively bars his two predecessors from becoming prime minister after elections next October or ever again.The decree, issued late Saturday, comes just days after Gen. Musharraf proposed other constitutional changes that would give him sweeping powers to dictate the country's affairs.The latest appears aimed directly at his two predecessors Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.

Arms sale to Israel criticized in BritainLONDON Campaigners against the arms trade accused Britain of hypocrisy yesterday after reports that London was violating its own guidelines for arms exports by selling jet-fighter components to Israel via the United States.The Observer newspaper said Britain, committed to an "ethical" foreign policy preventing sales of arms for external aggression or internal repression, would allow the equipment to leave Britain for use in F-16 jets already sold to Israel.

Police arrest more men in gang-rape caseMULTAN, Pakistan Police arrested two men yesterday suspected of taking part in the gang rape of an 18-year-old girl as part of a tribal punishment in a remote Pakistani village.Police raided two houses in separate villages in Punjab province and arrested Ghulam Farid and Mohammed Fayaz, police Col. Farman Ali said. The suspects were hiding in the homes of relatives, he added. The arrests bring the number of detainees in the rape to four.